Will I gain weight if I eat at night?

Yes and No. Yes, eating at night will promote weight gain if you have already exceeded your calorie budget for the day. No, eating at night will not cause you to gain weight if you have not yet met your needs.

There is no specific time that individuals cannot eat after. This recommendation is popular, because people tend to make more choices at night because they are tired.

Weight gain is caused by an excess of daily calories beyond the amount needed for body function and energy used in 24 hours. Extra calories are often eaten at night when there is more down time to eat in the comfort of your own home for hunger or pleasure. Extra calories eaten during the day will produce weight gain as well, although activity during the day may result in more efficient use of the calories for energy and not quite as much weight gain as if the same calories were eaten right before going to bed. Healthy weight maintenance is best achieved with a steady low calorie diet of nutrient dense foods, eaten any time of day, including whole grains, fruits, vegetables, healthy fats such as olive oil, proteins including lean meat, nuts, legumes, beans, soy or dairy and reduced saturated fat, sodium and sugar.

This is a great question and one that is asked everytime I teach a weight management class.

Eating at night causes weight gain only if you exceed the amount of kcalories you require in a day to remain at your current weight (daily caloric needs). Think about this and do the math:

If you require 1,600 kcalories a day and you eat 350 kcalories during breakfast, 150 kcalories during break time and 450 kcalories during lunch, how many kcalories have you eaten? That's right, only 950 kcalories! Now, let's suppose you become extremely busy around 5:00PM and don't eat until 10:30PM. Will eating a meal of 650 kcalories or less make you gain weight? The answer is "No" because you haven't exceeded your daily caloric allotment, which is 1,600 kcalories. You still have a surplus of 650 kcalories before that meal.

If you suffer from heartburn, GERD or other conditions that may cause you to feel bloated after eating or cause you to experience a "queezy" stomach feeling should not eat right before you go to bed.

During the night is when our bodies utilize the least amount of energy, therefore, it does not need the same amount of calories as it does during the day. Eating a meal at night leaves the body with an excess of calories which if not utilized will be stored as fat, thus causing you to gain weight. If you must eat at night it is best to do so 2-3 hours prior to your bedtime.

That’s one of those myths that has been around for quite some time. In reality, eating late at night does not necessarily contribute to weight gain. You only end up gaining weight if your total calories eaten throughout the entire day exceed the calories you burn. For some people eating late at night can be a problem when they severely restrict calories during the day and then get so hungry at night that they binge on excess calories. As long as you track your calories throughout the day and don’t exceed the recommended limits, you can eat late into the night without putting on weight.